Bloglander

Dolezal removed from police oversight panel

The Spokane City Council voted to remove Rachel Dolezal as chair of the of Office of Police Ombudsman Commission and to accept the resignation of commission member Kevin Berkompas in response to a report that found they had abused their authority on the police oversight panel.

The report also faulted Adrian Dominguez. But Council voted 5-1 to defer taking action until next week on Dominguez, who is out of town without access to a computer and had requested an opportunity to respond to the charges in the report. Dominguez had resigned from the commission last week to take a job in Seattle but had offered to stay on through the end of July.

After emerging from a 45-minutes executive session, where members of the public are not allowed, council emerged voting 6-0 (Councilman Jon Snyder was absent) to accept the resignation of Berkompas and to remove Dolezal, who has been in the center of a firestorm after it was revealed she has presented herself as black for years despite being born to white parents.

“We have heard nothing from her except through the national media outlets,” said Council President Ben Stuckart during the meeting. “She has not contacted me, the mayor or the legal department.”

Stuckart also noted that he wanted to move rapidly in replacing the members of the Ombudsman Commission. If Dominguez is removed next week, the commission will be left with two sitting members and legally unable to function.